Average house prices continue to rise
The average house in England and Wales is now worth about £166,798 which is a 6.7% increase over last 12 months. While this is an impressive increase in house prices over the period there is no doubt that pressure is starting to tell on the UK property sector. Over the last few weeks we have seen would-be buyers retreating to the sidelines hoping to catch more value on the way down as more sellers keep appearing out of the woodwork.
The triple whammy of negative sentiment, an imbalance in supply and demand and liquidity for first-time buyers in the UK is starting to concern many homeowners and demand for mortgages is expected to fall off in the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2010. Even though we are in danger of "talking ourselves into a recession" there are a number of reasons why UK property prices could weaken in the short to medium term. While many blame the financial press for the negative comments of late this is perhaps an unfair assessment of the situation.
If you were a buyer, and you had funding available, would you step into the breach just as more sellers come to the fore and house prices in the UK begin to soften?
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